JACK GRAHAM PHOTOGRAPHY www.jackgrahamphoto.com
LEARN to SEE LEARN to THINK LEARN to CREATE
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Playa Sunset, Death Valley NP
Workshop schedule: https://jackgrahamphoto.com/2012-workshop-schedule
Workshop Registration Form: https://jackgrahamphoto.com/sites/default/files/REGISTRATION-FORM-2012v9.pdf
Workshop Overview https://jackgrahamphoto.com/workshop-overview
Workshop FAQ’S; https://jackgrahamphoto.com/sites/default/files/GENERAL-WORKSHOP-QUESTIONS-FAQS-INFORMATION-v2012f.pdf
Workshop Referrals: https://jackgrahamphoto.com/referrals
PODCAST: www.18percentgraymatter.com
JACK GRAHAM PHOTOGRAPHY e books –available for purchase and immediate download https://jackgrahamphoto.com/shop/e-books
NEWS and NOTEWORTHY
It’s hard to believe we are now a few short weeks from leaving for Iceland. I have one seat open should you want to come along. I’ll be updating this blog from Iceland while I am there.
https://jackgrahamphoto.com/ultimate-iceland-july-2012
CUBA 2013 !!!! Yes it’s going to happen. Details and itineraries will be published in about a week or so. Dates are Feb 8-15th 2013. Email me jack@jackgrahamphoto.com for information.
MORE in 2013—I’ll be formally announcing Utah (Zion area) in October 2013. Guy Tal (www.guytal.com ) and I are working on a joint workshop in…………. CAPITAL REEF National Park sometime in April 2013—STAY TUNED!!!!
And dont forget ICELAND https://www.jackgrahamphoto.com/ultimate-iceland-2013-limit-10-attendees
and GREENLAND https://www.jackgrahamphoto.com/ultimate-greenland-new-2013 in JULY 2013
Below is a list of my workshops for the remainder of 2012. Of particular note is the workshop in Northern California in September 2012 ( https://www.jackgrahamphoto.com/autumn-napa-valley-san-francisco-and-northern-california-coast-pacific-northwest-art-school-photogra ) that I will be conducting with the Pacific Northwest Art School. September is a great time to be in this area. The summer crowds are gone and the air is a bit cooler and refreshing. In addition, the cost of this workshop is very attractive considering the itinerary and diverse subject matter. We will spend a full day in the beautiful win county of the Napa Valley. We will travel a bit Northwest through the Point Reyes area, then down to the Marin headlands for some great ocean views and a sunrise shoot of the Golden gate. After a morning in San Francisco, we’ll venture out to the coast, south of San Francisco for more ocean, and intimate landscape locations. Time is set to conduct presentations, image discussions and more. Please consider joining us. You can register with the PNWS here: http://www.pacificnorthwestartschool.org/all/photography-workshops/graham-jack-fall-in-northern-ca-sep-20-23-2012-1 or by calling 866-678-3395.
Napa Sunrise
My 2013 workshop schedule is coming into shape. You can view it here. Another trek to Iceland is planned for July with an additional 9 day excursion to beautiful (and quite warm & pleasant and under photographed) Greenland. I’ll be back in NE Ohio in October for fall color and once again a full day(including a private Amish dinner) with my Amish friends on their farm in Sugarcreek Ohio. I’ll be teaming up with my good friend, world class photographer and teacher Bill Fortney(www.billfortney.com) for a workshop you will not want to miss! I’ll also be announcing a workshop in late October 2013 in the red rock country (including Zion National Park) very soon. Details on these and more can be found here: https://www.jackgrahamphoto.com/2013-photography-workshop-schedule
I received requests to link the webinar I conducted for NIK SOFTWARE , back in March, entitled, “Keeping it Simple .You can view it here: ( if you purchase any or all of the NIK Software package… enter code JGRAHAM and receive a 15% discount!!!
2012 Workshop Info:
ULTIMATE ICELAND, 10 days, JULY 2012 –ONLY 1 SEAT LEFT https://jackgrahamphoto.com/ultimate-iceland-july-2012
OREGON COAST 5 DAYS!—August 2012—2 seats open https://jackgrahamphoto.com/2012-oregon-coast-cannon-beach-bandon-5-full-day
NAPA VALLEY, No. CALIFORNIA COAST, SAN FRANCISCO MORE!!!SEPTEMBER 2012 ( www.pacificnorthwestartschool.com ) few seats left, not many! http://www.pacificnorthwestartschool.org/all/photography-workshops/graham-jack-fall-in-northern-ca-sep-20-23-2012-1
GRAND TETON NP SEPTEMBER 2012 3 seats open https://jackgrahamphoto.com/fall-grand-teton-and-yellowstone-np-photography-workshop
17TH ANNUAL EASTERN SIERRA FALL WORKSHOP with GUY TAL www.guytal.com JUST a FEW SEATS LEFT—filling fast https://jackgrahamphoto.com/17th-annual-eastern-sierra-photography-workshop-mono-lake-alabama-hills-bristlecone-pine-bodie-more
More information found here: https://jackgrahamphoto.com/2012-photography-workshop-schedule
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WHICH ONE WORKS? …. #8 The Palouse Region of Eastern Washington
In this series of articles, I discuss and compare images and talk about why I like one over the other.
Choosing one image over other similar images is one that we all deal with in our digital darkroom.
I suggest to you, as well as my workshop attendees to work the subject while in the field, make final decisions on your monitors at home.
The final image is important for whatever project it’s being used for, and spending time determining which image works vs. another is well worth it. In many case the slightest difference in composition, light etc. makes all the difference, Most of the time it is very clear which one is better for your individual needs than others, sometimes it’s not.
Often we may take many frames of a subject in different light and different angles. Each frame can evoke a different feeling to the subject.
Always remember that you need a good subject and acceptable light, or your final image will probably be less than desirable.
Your comments, as always are more than welcome.—JG
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LOCATION: THE PALOUSE region of Eastern Washington
Crop Dusting in the Palouse
As a photographer I visit many locations while conducting workshops as well as on my own photo excursions. There are two locations that are diametrically opposed but in many ways are photographically similar. I visit Death Valley National Park at least twice each year. Death Valley offers challenges to even the seasoned photographer. Unlike many of the National Parks, there are few icons. One must be on his or hers “A” game or making successful images in Death Valley will be difficult to impossible. Photographers are there to depict the vastness and sometimes emptiness of the park. We go there to photograph the patterns and textures found within the rock formations. There is little green unless the winter rains produce some vegetation. In the Palouse region of Eastern Washington things could not be more different. If a country, Whitman County Washington, in the heart of the Palouse would be the third largest producer of Wheat in the world. What is more interesting is there is no real irrigation. The wheat that grows here is the result of the rain. What Death Valley and the Palouse have in common however is interesting. Both areas are extremely vast. From the vistas, overlooks and the many rural roads in the Palouse, we can see wheat fields almost to the horizon. In Death Valley, we can look down for miles at the dried playa, rock and sand features, all making up this expanse of dryness. We photographers go the Palouse, just as we go to Death Valley to photograph the patterns and textures, not in rock or salt playa, but in the wheat fields and farmland.
Usually the first two weeks of June allow photographers to capture images depicting the patterns and textures of the wheat fields. Again in August, at harvest time many photographers travel to small towns like Colfax, Oakesdale, Dusty and Steptoe to make images in the light produced by the dust created by the harvest machinery.
Like Death Valley, we must prepare, and slow down to study the scene before pressing the shutter. These two areas are so different in many ways, yet so alike in others.
HE STORY: On the last morning of my recent workshop in the Palouse, I decided, based on the light and weather conditions to revisit a barn I photographed a few days before the workshop started. This barn is on Highway 26 about 15 miles west of Colfax. For many years, I used this location to turn around to drive back east to the Colfax area. It’s a simple structure, not bright red like many of the barns in the Palouse. It’s located I a field that offers no other structures of any kind. By going there I wanted to send a message to my attendees of simplicity. If photographed correctly this location offers a simple but yet powerful subject. Upon arrival, I sensed from my attendees that they were not impressed with my location choice. The barn was not red; there was no foreground or apparent patterns. Why were we here? By the time we left all were happy and got the message. One attendee actually said this was his favorite location of the weekend. After we took our time and understood the subject everything became clear.
The title of this image is “Turnaround” based on my prior stops at this location. The resulting images were made within a few minutes of each other. I was pleased with one much more than the other two.
TECH DATA: All images made using my Nikon D700, Gitzo 3541 tripod and Really Right Stuff BH55 Ball Head de images were taken using aNikon 80-200mm 2.8 lens, ISO 800, Shutter speed of 1/1000 sec at F11.. The ISO was high as was the shutter as the wind was blowing the wheat in the foreground. I wanted no movement showing.
PROCESSING: All images were processed in Adobe Lightroom camera RAW As always I used NIK SOFTWARE to complete my processing. I added some structure and fine tuning using Nik’s Viveza. With Color Efex Pro 4 I added some detail, brilliance and warmth, pro contrast, foliage enhancement and the Darken /Lighten Center filter. (I recommend NIK PRODUCTS without hesitation. You can receive a 15% discount by using my code JGRAHAM when ordering at www.niksoftware.com) .Nik’s output Sharpener was used to sharpen the final images. A final curve adjustment , level adjustment and Nik’s Define program (noise reduction).completed the processing.
Image # 1
THE EDIT:
IMAGE #1 is more of a study of the barn. It shows the structure in its surroundings. It’s technically done well buy nothing I would put up on my wall. It is kind of a postcard I image. Without taking time to work the scene these type of images are ones often photographed. They do not convey the sense of place.
IMAGE # 2
Image # 2
Image two begins to convey what I was trying to depict in this scene. I used the foreground of the wheat in conjunction with the background to tell the story. The single barn in the field made this fairly minimalistic scene strong. The single cloud on the left also added some drama to the scene. I would have liked a bit more cloud showing and not running out of the scene.
Image # 3
IMAGE #3 After waiting for a few minutes to see if some more clouds appeared, I was rewarded with a scene that was what I was looking for. I reduced the amount of foreground from Image # 2 as I determined that the amount of foreground was overwhelming the image. I also made this wider ythan the previous image in order to further depict the vastness of the area.
FINAL DECISION. Image #1 is a postcard image. Image #2 has too much foreground, not enough open space to tell the story I was attempting. The final image (IMAGE #3) is exactly what I wanted to capture in this scene. After about ½ hour in one location the clouds along with the adjustments made #3 my image of choice. It really tells the story of the Palouse with a minimalist, yet powerful scene I tried to convey. Image #3, to me is much more powerful than the other two images.
During the process of making these images and explaining my thought to my workshop attendees, I indicated that there in the field, I know this would become a monochrome image. I processed the image using Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro . I really feel that the monochrome image is even stronger than the color rendition. When in the field I recommend you have , in your mind , the final result you are seeking. How we will process images is important to think about at the time the image is made.
What do you think?
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